Compound nouns formed with noun + à + verb-infinitive

In English we often simply squash two words together to make a compound noun ("dining room"), whereas in French the two words are always joined by a preposition (à, de, en).

Look at these examples:

une planche à repasseran ironing board

une machine à lavera washing machine

une machine à coudrea sewing machine

une pomme à cuire a cooking apple

Compound nouns in English formed with -ing + noun are often used to indicate function (e.g. "dining room"). In French, these typically take the form noun + à + verb-infinitive. For example, salle àmanger.